Comparing Files

The File Comparator plugin allows you to visually compare text and binary files, showing you the differences side-by-side.

To compare files:

1. You can specify two files for comparison directly in the panels or enter their names in the Compare Files dialog. This dialog is displayed only if Confirm files selection before launching File Comparator is checked (see the General tab in the Configuration dialog).

   Ways to specify two files for comparison in the panels:
   1. select both files in one panel,
   2. select the first file in the left panel, then select the second file in the right panel,
   3. select the first file, then focus the second file in one panel,
   4. select the first file in the left panel, then focus the second file in the right panel (or vice versa),
   5. if you have files with the same name in both panels, focus the first file in one panel—the second file with the same name will be taken from the opposite panel.
2. Open the Compare Files dialog (or directly open the File Comparator window if this dialog is suppressed):

   Menu:	Plugins/File Comparator/Compare Files...
   Shortcut key:	Ctrl+Shift+C
   File Comparator menu:	File/Compare...
   File Comparator shortcut key:	Ctrl+O

3. Click the OK button to open the File Comparator window.

Word wrap and pane orientation

For text comparisons, View/Word Wrap wraps long lines to the pane width without changing the files. Both panes stay aligned, and copying retains the original text. Word wrap is enabled by default.

From Sally 1.0.40, toolbar buttons toggle word wrap and horizontal or vertical pane orientation. The horizontal-layout setting in General also applies to the open comparison when you accept the configuration.

See Also

Comparing Files from Other Applications